Firewood-cutting machine



3 SMEETS-SCEET l.

F. W. CASEY.

FIREWOOD CUTTING MACHINE.

HLED JULY 1, |922.

Dec. 19, 1922.

F. W. CASEY.

FIREwooD CUTTING MACHINE.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Evenor' www W6' des@ 'M W HLED JULY 7,1922.

Patented Dec. 19, 1922.

en srarss teach FRANCIS W. CASEY, 0F ROCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS.

FIBEWOOD-CUTTXNG MACHINE.

Application filed July7j1922. ySerial No. 573,422.

To all whom t may concern.' y

Be it known that I, FRANCIS W. (lnsnx, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockland, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Firewood-(hit-` ting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is embodied in a machine adapted to eut into short lengths for fuel, the tops and branches of trees known as ccslash, the object being te enable slashings to be rapidly and economically reduced to` form suitable for use in stoves and iurnaces, thus utilizing material which is usually Wasted, because lot' the absence ot suitable means :tor advantageously adapting it for such use. f p

The invention may also be embodied in a machine adapted to cut into lengths, sticks, such as trunks and branches of larger diameter than so-called slashings.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary end elevation onr a smaller scale, showing an attachment hereinafter,described. i

Figure 3 is ato-pplan view, on'iittingthe guide extension shown by Figure 1.

Figure 4t is a side elevation, and;

Figure 5 is an end elevation showing a casing enclosing the mechanism of the machine.

Figure G is au end elevation, the casing being removed.

figure 7 is ure 3. Y i

Figure S isa section on line 8 8 ol Fig ure 3. l

Figure 9 ure 3.

Figure 10 is a perspective viewr of the iixed shear blade removed from the machine.

Figure 11 isa perspective view of the Ahead plate, which carries the fixed blade.

Figure 12 shows a length as cut from a slashing by the machine.

section ou` line 7 7 of Figis a section on line 9 9 of Fig- The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the iigures.

The trame. oit the machine includes bearings 12, for apower-drive.n sliaJ't 13, bearings lit Jfor a driving-shatt- 15, and suitable base members 1G supporting said bearings.

The driven shaft 13is connected with the driving shaft by gears 17 and 18, and the driving shaft may be connected with any suitable source of power, as by a belt running on a pulley 19, fixed to the driving shaft. y l

i Fixed to` the driven shaft 13 is a revolving shear blade 20, having a cutting edge 21, which is in a plane at right angles to the shaft. The portion oil" the blade on which the cutting edge is formed is. cam-shaped, the cutting edge having a salient curvature and being eccentric to the shaft.- l prefer to secure the blade 2() by screws 22, to an arm 23, having a hub'23a, which is connected by a key 24 with the shaft 13. The arm is countersunk or recessed to form a shoulder bearing on the edge or end face of the blade. The

blade-is beveled on one side, and the cutting edge intersects the opposite or outer side, which is essentially fiat and in a plane at right angles to the shaft.

Secured to a head plate orbracket arm 25, forming a part of the frame of the machine, isa fixed shear blade `26, having a cutting edge 27, which is pre'terablya portion of the wall of an aperture 27a in a flat-sided plate forming the body of the fixed blade. The headplate 25 has va recess 25- in one side, formed to receive the fixed blade 26, the latter being' detachably secured to the head plate `by screws 28'. The fixed blade 26 has a` fiat side facing the lia-t outer side or' the revolving blade 20, and in a plane at right wall at the lett, and lower portions of the wall of the aperture 27a, as shown by Figure 10, has a reentrant curvature, andis eccentric to the shaft 13. The form and arrangementof the iixed cutting edge is such that the cutting edge of the revolving blade alternately passes across, and recedes from the iixed cutting edge, indicated by dotted lines in `Figure 7. lWhen the revolving blade reeedies, a throat `is formed between the cut.-

ting edges of the two blades for the reception of material feed to themachine. l/Vhen the revolving blade approaches and passes across the fixed blade, the cutting edges cooperate in severing .the inserted material with a shearing cut.'v j v As shown by Figure ll, the headgplate 25 has an aperture 25D corresponding in form to thek aperture 27 in the iXed bladej- `When the revolving blade 2O is in the left-handposition shown by Figure?, the apertures 25h and 27a are practically unobstructed, i and form a receiving throat ofmaximum area. Material inserted in the throat while it is thus unobstructed is forced toward the fixed cutting edge 27 by the revolving blade. The headplate 25 is provided with a guide 30, formed as an endless kdange surround-ing the aperture 25 and projecting from the outer side of the head plate. Said guide -is inclinedor obliquely arranged, so that it d1-y rects the inateral obliquely between the cut ting edges, as indicated by the arrow X in Figure l, and by the, arrow lY in Figure 3. The ymaterial is, therefore, so presented to the cutting edges that the line 'of cut is oblique, as shown bylligure. l2, which shows a section 33 cut from a` slashing, 34, 3XL-being the oblique ends formed by the cuttingl action.

The guidemayfbe provided with an extension 32, as shown by Figure l. To regulate or determine the length of the sections 33,- l `provide a stop 35, spaced fromthe inner sides of the blades, an in the path Iof material inserted in the guide, so that the advancing ends i are arrestedv at a predetermined distance from the lineof the cut'. lThe stop l35 is preferably a disk fixed to the,` shaft 13. lts forward side against whichy the material abuts is preferably lmurled or roughened," as indicated by Figure G, to engage' the ends vof `the slashings or other pieces. The stopl may be adjust` able tow:

y "dand from the blades to vary length. of` thecut sections.

To prevent the blades from being gummed ywith pitch vvin cutting wood such as pine,

the

' theat'tachnient shown `by Figures l and 2 may be'provided, this -beingembodied in an elevatedvftank 37, adapted to contain a solvent, such as `kerosene oil, and providedv with a feedpipe 38, discharging against the flat side of the revolving Jblade, and controlled bya cock 39.

Thehead plate 25 is preferably adjust able, to permit' lateral adjustments of the fixed blade. To this end the head plate is provided kwith a base Li0', secured to portions of the frame by screws 4l, in slots 42 i .in the base. `Adjusting screws43 are provided, bearing on one edge ofthev base 40. y

l'Vhen the screws 4l are loosened, and the screws 4:3 arerturned in one direction, the headplate is moved towardthe path of `the revolving blade.

the revolving` blade, and may then be securedby tightening the screwsl 4l. lWhen the screws d3 are turned in the Iopposite direction, they recede and permit movement of the head plateaway from thepath of These lateral adjustments are of course very slight, and are intended vchiefly to compensate for wear of the blades.- Y f A sheet metal Coverall (Figures l and 5) may be provided, to 4protect the r described mechanism. f i i `The'head plate 25, andthe fixedblade 26 may beprovided withcoinciding orifices 45 (Figures 10 andy 11), arranged. to receive a `portion of the shaft 13. y

l' do not limit .myself to a machine adapted only to cut slashings into lengths. n machine embodying the vdescribed construction may be adapted to cut tree trunks and limbs wither .without branches and twigs into lengths suitable: forfrewood. I have ysuccessfullyi used the vmachine driven by a three H. l). engine to cut trunks or sticks about three inches in diameter. suitably increasing `the power 'and' the strength of the blades, trunks or sticks of considerably greater diameter may be out. The guide which conducts the material to the blades may be flaring, and decrease in diameter from its outer to its inner end, so that a trunk `of suitable diameter, and

itsvbranches and` twigs, may bev fed as a so that cutting Yedge has a salient curva-V ture, and is eccentric. to the shaft, and a lined ,shear blade havii'lg a cutting-edge with al `reentrant curvature, and in a plane parallel with `the edge of thc/revolving blade, said edges being in `shearing rela; tion to each other, the varrangement being such that the revolvingblade alternately recedes from the fixed blade to form alreceiving throat, land approaches the fixed blade to close said throat and cooperate with the fixed blade 'in severing inserted material. y y

2. A firewood-cutting machine substantially as specified by claim l, comprising alsoa guide at the outer sides of the blades, adaptedtodirect material into said throat in a direction oblique to the planeof the blades.

tially as specified by claim l, comprising alec a step at the inner sides of the blades,

adapted to arrest tlieinserted material and 3f. AAffirewood-c-utting machine substan` 5 tially Speoiiied by Claim l, the Said frame including a head plate to Which the said lixed blade is secured. f

5. A firewood-cutting machine substantially as specified by olairn l, the Said frame 10 including` a head plate to Whioh Jche Said fixed blade is Seeured, said head plate and fixed blade being` adjustable toward and from the revolving blade.

6. A irewood-cutting machine substantially as speeilied by claim l, the said frame including a head plate to which the said fixed blade is Secured, the said head plate and fixed blade being provided With coinciding apertures.

ln testimony whereof l have aixed my signature.

FRANCS W. CASEY. 

